O.J. Simpson in an undated photograph, shown in the film “O.J.: Made in America.”ESPN Films

NYT RECOMMENDATION

O.J.: Made in America

2016• One season, five two-hour episodes• Directed by Ezra Edelman

This ambitious entry in ESPN’s “30 for 30” documentary series is a five-part special about the life, career and criminal trials of football star O.J. Simpson, examining how Simpson’s story parallels over 50 years of racial conflict in the United States.

Watch ... for a revealing look at justice, fame and race relations in America. Director Ezra Edelman doesn’t just focus on the deaths of Ronald L. Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson — and the subsequent murder trial of her ex-husband, O.J. Instead Edelman widens his scope to consider decades of racially insensitive policing in Los Angeles, while observing how the rich and famous get treated differently than the rest of us in the criminal justice system. The series’ thesis is that Americans sometimes have different ideas about what’s “true,” depending on what they’ve personally experienced in their lives. The result is a bold, visionary piece of documentary filmmaking, which also happens to contain plenty of juicy details about the private life of an N.F.L. Hall of Famer.

Skip ... if you don’t want to see bloody crime-scene photos. Most of the gorier trial evidence in this documentary hasn’t been widely seen by the public before, so even if you think you’ve seen all the photos of the murders, be warned that some of the images here are much more stomach-turning than you may imagine.

How To Watch It

Every episode of “O.J.: Made in America” is essential. Coming shortly after the FX dramatization “The People v. O.J. Simpson,” this ESPN docu-series covers aspects of Simpson’s life before and after the murder trial that were not in the FX series — notably in Parts 1, 2 and 5, with that final installment especially offering some surprises.